San Juan (Puerto Rico),
15 April 2010 - The discharge of garbage
by ships in the Wider Caribbean Region will
be prohibited as of 1 May 2011,
following decisive action by the International
Maritime Organization (IMO).
The decision was taken
by the IMO's Marine Environment Protection
Committee at the organization's 60th session
on 22-26 March.
With the adoption of
an MEPC resolution establishing 1 May 2011
as the date on which the MARPOL 73/78 Annex
V (Regulations for the Prevention of Pollution
by Garbage from Ships) Special Area regulations
take effect in the Wider Caribbean, this
region becomes the 6th zone to be protected
against the discharge of all garbage from
ships, other than organic materials under
certain conditions (based on distance from
shore and particle size).
Others include the Baltic
Sea (effective since October 1989), the
North Sea (February 1991), the Antarctic
area (south of latitude 60 degrees south)
(March 1992), the "Gulfs" area
(August 2008) and the Mediterranean Sea
(May 2009). The entry into force of the
Special Area status in the Black and Red
Seas, which have also been designated under
the Annex V, is not yet effective.
Although the effective
date is approximately one year from today,
MEPC still calls on Governments and Industry
to comply with the Special Area requirements
as soon as possible.
The adoption of the
resolution follows the notification at the
same MEPC session by 22 Caribbean Parties
to the MARPOL 73/78 Convention that sufficient
adequate reception facilities for garbage
are now provided in most relevant ports
within the region.
In the Wider Caribbean
Region, 25 Countries are Parties to MARPOL
and its Annex V. This Annex prohibits the
discharge of all plastics, but allows, under
certain conditions, for the discharge of
other types of garbage - such as dunnage,
paper, lining, metal and so on - except
in designated Special Areas.
MEPC, recognizing the
sensitivity of the Wider Caribbean Region
(by assessing its specificities, such as
the oceanography, the undersea topography,
the interconnectedness of the area's ecosystems
and the shipping traffic in the region),
designated the region as a Special Area
under Annex V in 1991. However, due to a
lack of capacity and an absence of notifications
to IMO of the location of adequate reception
facilities, the status had yet to become
effective.
The Wider Caribbean
Region contains 28 coastal and insular Countries
that have coasts (may it be overseas territories)
on the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico
and part of the Atlantic Ocean. It covers
an area of more than 3.3 million km2, from
the United States of America to French Guiana.
The region's highly productive but extremely
sensitive ecosystems provide a livelihood
for many coastal communities through tourism,
artisanal and industrial fisheries and sea
bed exploitation, and more than 41 million
people live within 10 km of the coastline.
Garbage in the marine
environment poses several issues, whether
environmental or socio-economic. It can
damage habitats, cause the death of wildlife,
but also impact the quality of life of local
communities and affect the economies of
a region, notably by its consequences on
tourism.
A study conducted by
UNEP assessed that litter from ocean-based
sources of pollution (such as fishing nets,
gear and supplies, ropes, etc.) accounted
for at least 11 per cent of all marine litter
in the Caribbean region. And this does not
even include garbage that could have been
disposed of from ships but was considered
to originate from land-based sources, such
as glass, metal, and paper.
According to Gaëtan
Coatanroch, an IMO Consultant based at RAC/REMPEITC,
the adoption of the IMO resolution shows
"a strong commitment by the Parties
to sustainably develop the region and decrease
maritime pollution." He also added
that this is a very timely move, as maritime
traffic is expected to continue to dramatically
increase in the Caribbean region with the
expansion of the Panama Canal. Currently,
it is estimated that approximately 40 per
cent of the world's commerce passes within
a day and a half sailing time of Key West,
Florida.
A concern linked to
this entry into force is the availability
of information regarding the location of
port reception facilities in the region.
The Caribbean Countries now have one year
to populate IMO's database, the Global Integrated
Shipping Information System (GISIS). Assistance
is already planned, and a joint UNEP-IMO
regional workshop addressing this matter
will be held in Panama in May 2010. Subsequently,
the few Parties that do not have yet adequate
reception facilities have undertaken to
find alternatives arrangements (which includes
forming agreements with neighboring countries),
and install them as soon as feasible.
Chris Corbin, UNEP CAR/RCU's
Programme Officer for Pollution Prevention,
congratulated the Countries for their collaboration
on this matter, but also stressed the importance
of having the entry into force as soon as
possible of the related pollution control
agreement for Land Based Sources of Marine
Pollution, the LBS Protocol . This will
further assist efforts to tackle the problem
of solid waste and marine litter in the
region.
Corbin further noted
that UNEP, IMO and RAC/REMPEITC will continue
to implement activities on marine and land-based
sources of pollution, and to assist countries
in complying with regional and international
agreements' requirements for the protection
of the coastal and marine environment of
the Wider Caribbean.
Notes to Editors:
About MARPOL
MARPOL is a comprehensive
Convention for the prevention of pollution
of the marine environment by ships. It covers
the main sources of pollution with six annexes
(namely Oil, Noxious Substances in Bulk,
Harmful Substances in Packaged Form, Sewage,
Garbage and Air Emissions), both in accidental
or operational situations. Currently, MARPOL
(and its two compulsory Annexes I and II)
has 150 Parties, representing more than
99% of the global Merchant Fleet in terms
of tonnage, 133 Parties to its Annex III
(95.76%), 124 Parties to its Annex IV (81.62%),
139 Parties to its Annex V (97.18%) and
58 Parties to its Annex VI (83.87%).
About UNEP'S Caribbean
Environment Programme And Regional Activity
Centres
Recognizing the importance
of the Wider Caribbean Region's marine landscape,
in 1976 the United Nations Environmental
Programme (UNEP) established the Caribbean
Environment Programme (CEP) under the framework
of its Regional Seas Programme. A Caribbean
Action Plan was adopted by the Caribbean
Countries that led to the adoption, in 1983,
of the only regional legally-binding agreement
for the protection of the marine environment,
the Cartagena Convention . The Convention
and its first Protocol entered into force
in 1986, and were later followed by the
SPAW and LBS Protocols, in 11000 and 1999
respectively. The SPAW Protocol entered
into force in 2000, whereas three more countries
need to ratify the LBS Protocol before it
can become international law.
The Regional Coordinating
Unit (UNEP CAR/RCU) serves as the Secretariat
to the Cartagena Convention and is based
in Kingston, Jamaica. To assist countries
of the Wider Caribbean in implementing these
various Protocols, supporting Regional Activity
Centres have been developed. These Centres
are based in the Netherlands Antilles (Regional
Marine Pollution Emergency Information and
Training Center for the Wider Caribbean,
RAC/REMPEITC), Guadeloupe (RAC/SPAW), Cuba
(Centre of Engineering and Environmental
Management of Coasts and Bays) and Trinidad
& Tobago (Institute of Marine Affairs).
About RAC/REMPEITC and
MARPOL
In the mid-nineties,
the World Bank and IMO started a project
aimed to help Caribbean countries to ratify
and implement the MARPOL Convention . Following
this initiative, RAC/REMPEITC - a joint
UNEP-IMO Activity Centre that implements
technical co-operation activities to prevent
and respond to maritime pollution, and notably
oil spills began to conduct regional activities
to stress the requirements of the Convention,
specifically Annex V, and increase the public
awareness on marine pollution from ships
and land-based sources. Between 2007 and
2009, eight seminars were conducted in different
Caribbean countries with the attendance
of more than 1000 participants, including
students, from 19 countries. During these
seminars, countries realized that most of
the ports in the region had adequate port
reception facilities, and that only their
notification to IMO was lacking. Now well
aware of the issue , they decided to take
action, and jointly notified IMO of their
compliance with the Annex V Special Area
requirements at the MEPC meeting in March
2010.
For additional information
please contact:
Jeff Ramos or Gaëtan Coatanroch at
the RAC/REMPEITC-Caribe, Seru Mahuma z/n,
Curacao, Netherlands Antilles
